Golden Feline
by everfaraway
Summary: Dragonus is after a box marked by the Brotherhood of the Blade, but something doesn't let them get it. DukexOC


Golden Feline

**Author: Another re-write. Set several weeks after Ryann's appearance, so she's had time to heal. Kit & Ryann are mine, rest are Disney's. If you want a visual of how Kit is positioned on the wall, go watch the fight scene between Tifa & Loz in the church in FF7: Advent Children. Kit is to Duke was Aeris was to Cloud I guess, but she's a bit like Tifa.**

A shadow stalked the rafters of an abandoned building. "Watch it or Dragonus'll have your tail."

"What's wrong little lizard, can't hold your own weight?" On the floor a tiny green Sorien turned into a tall muscular creature.

"Shapeshifter." The door burst open below her.

"Seige, Chamelion! Drop the box!" a white duck barked.

"Ducaine's mask. And Duke?!"

"Uh, I think we'll be going now. Bye bye." Chamelion said as Seige hit a button on his teleporter.

"Every time." a red hair duck said.

"Easy Mallory." the one wearing the mask told her.

"Trust old lizard lips to call off his flunkies." the youngest, Nosedive, laughed.

Duke looked over his shoulder and said, "Speaking of which." The shadow on the rafters jumped down into the light, landing nearby Dragonus. Her blonde fur shimmered gold in the moonlight and her hair looked like a halo. The fur on her ears and tail were brown, looking tan. She wore a black tank top and tight pants with ankle high boots.

"Hello Dragonus." she purred.

"Kit." Duke whispered. She paid him no attention, her hazel eyes focused on the Sorien in front of her. Both were tense and ready for a fight.

He whipped around, swinging his tail at her. Kit easily dodged, jumping off to the side. The second barely missed her shoulder and she realized that any one of his blows could kill her. As quick as lightning, she vaulted up into the air to press herself againest a wall. One back paw was firmly place directly behind her, the other leg stretched out to give her a little space to move. She had one paw planted in front of her and the other on her knee. "What do you want with that box? You've got no right to anything marked by the Brotherhood!" she called.

"Curiousity killed the cat." he said. Her fur stood on end, her tail puffed up, her ears laid back, she unsheathed her claws and opened her mouth to reveal needle sharp teeth. A lock of hair fell over her face as her body tensed. A second later, she launched herself off the wall and straight at the Sorien. He spun to meet her with his tail. She landed easily on the arc, feeling muscle taunt under scales.

"You have no idea what and who you're dealing with." she hissed and then pounced.

As soon as she did, the skylight above shattered. Glass rained down around them, buying enough time for Dragonus to whip his tail around at Kit again. It was a glancing blow, but enough to knock her to the ground. She yowled in pain, shoulder on fire and tail going numb. Her paws twitched and her claws retracted. Duke fired a puck net, throwing Dragonus onto his back. As soon as the Sorien was down, he was with Kit. "You alright sweetheart?" he asked her.

She got up onto all fours and muttered, "I'm fine." He touched her furry cheek and she purred contently. Dragonus slashed through the net and got to his feet. Again her fur puffed up, a yowl of mixed rage and pain starting deep in her throat. Another hiss echoed and a black blurr jumped down onto Dragonus.

"Don't hurt her!" a silky voice shouted.

"Ryann." Duke said, mesmerized by his apprentice's ability. In an instant Kit pounced, sinking claws and fangs into the sorien alongside Ryann. He roared in rage and pain as he glowed green below them. "Let him go." Duke told them. Both jumped, landing on either side of him. Ryann crouched on his left and Kit sat there at his right with her long tail curled around her front paws.

"Curiousity doesn't always kill the cat." he said. "No, but when it does, satisfaction brings it back." she purred.

"We need to go, I can hear sirens." Ryann told them. Kit's ears twitched, registering the sound.

A bit later Kit lay on the couch with Duke. He was on his back and she was curled up on his chest. "How do you feel?" he whispered. She didn't answer, just dozed on.

"So who is she? And what is she?" Mallory asked.

"My girlfriend Kit. As far as what she is, we can only guess. Nobody's seen anything like her before." he said.

"She's always been like this?" Wildwing guessed.

Duke ran his hand through her hair and said, "As long as I've known her and she can remember." Tanya raised an eyebrow as Kit nestled her head againest his neck and purred deep within her throat. Ryann crouched at the foot of the couch as he propped his feet on the arm.

"You're a ladies man to the end." Dive muttered.

"Ah shut up kid. I'm just one ladie's man." he said. Ryann looked up at the teen and hissed softly. He stepped back as her eyes started to turn red.

She lay still for a minute then asked, "What was in the box master?"

"When Kit wakes back up, we'll find out. Until then, you're not to stick your beak where it doesn't belong, understand?" he whispered. Ryann moved to the back of couch and looked down at him.

"Should it not be here?" she asked.

"We'll find out later. Patience." he said, dozing off.

Her gaze moved from Kit to the box on a table nearby and said, "I will guard your most precious of treasures master."

Several hours later, all three gathered around the box on the table. "It's marked by the Brotherhood, but these symbols aren't anything I reconize." Kit muttered, running her paw over the lid. Ryann tapped a claw on the side and tilted her head.

"There's something inside." she whispered. Duke was crouched between them, picking the lock with a dagger.

"Almost got it girls." he said; a second later the lock clicked open. He got up and slowly opened the box. Kit and Ryann stood next to him, trying to imagine what might be hidden within. Duke tilted the hinged lid as far back as it would go and reached inside.

"It looks like a giant jewel of somekind." Kit whispered, touching a paw to it.

"Last time we dealt with something that looked like a jewel, it turned out to be the egg of something that started out cute and turning out to be really ugly later on." he told them as he turned to the door.

"Where are you going master?" Ryann asked.

Holding it at arms length, he said, "To Tanya so she can look it over." They followed him out the door, very curious.

The whole team stood around as Tanya finished her examination of what came out of the box. "It is an egg." she announced.

"Oh, man." Nosedive groaned.

"What's going to hatch out of it?" Ryann asked, tapping it with a claw.

Kit looked over her shoulder and said, "I don't know, but hopefully something we can use to defeat the soriens and get back to the Brotherhood." The dark duck's eyes went wide a crack appeared.

"It's starting to hatch." Mallory said, pulling out a puck blaster. Duke reached of his saber as Kit backed up. Ryann remained crouched where she was, staring at the egg. After it gave a shake, the whole egg burst to reveal a small creature with body and head of a cat, but the wings of a bird.

"It's a gryphon." Duke breathed.

"I thought they were only legends." Dive said.

"Not in the 'Hood." Kit told him, picking up a piece of the black eggshell. The tiny creature batted at Ryann's beak with a tiny paw. All she could do was stare as it found amusement in this.

"Ryann?" Mallory asked.

She looked up at Duke and spoke for the first time: "Can I keep it, please master?" He retracted the blade of his saber and crouched down to look at the tiny gryphon. It's body was a very dark brown, it's wings: black and it's tiny needle like teeth and claws: red. But it's eyes were a beautiful shade of green, like emeralds. "Master?" she pleaded. He glanced at Wildwing who shrugged.

"As long as you care for and train it, I suppose so." the ex-thief said. Kit retracted her claws, feeling safe & slowly moved to admire the beautiful gryphon.

The creature, as if understanding his words, purred quite loudly for something so tiny. Ryann's eyes shone with a warmth that neither Duke nor Kit had seen in long time. As they all left the room, Ryann scoped up her tiny pet and disappeared quickly. "She'll be fine." Kit assured Duke.

"I know, I think I'm still trying to grasp why Dragonius wanted the box to began with." he told her.

"The box held a gryphon's egg, perhaps he knew and wanted it for himself so that he could use it against us." she said as they re entered the Rec Room.

"I wish that one of the Brotherhood's elders were here, maybe they could translate these symbols." he muttered.

Kit purred and whispered, "That's not all you're worried about love. But I know Ryann will be fine with the gryphon kit."

"Some responsiblity now at her age will help her settle down a bit. She's always been so untrusting and a loner." he said.

"You didn't turn out so bad." she told him.

"Ryann didn't have anyone growing up, whereas I had you and Mac." he muttered. She rested her head on his shoulder and purred.

**Author: I'm quoting Disney films! The last 3 lines of Duke & Kit's convo in just like one of Lady & Tramp's conversations from Scamp's adventures.**

**P.S.: I was a serious messed up kid to have made all of these weird characters. If you think Ryann & Kit are weird, just wait to see if I re-write the rest of my MD stories or get my hands of a disk or cd that has them. Especially the screwed up mixture of MD & SM.**


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